Speaking to a representative from one of the largest Travel Management Companies (TMC) we discovered why we need them and how they stand out.
The reason being TMCs have a duty of care to get you to where you need to be whatever the reason or emergency. From planes, trains and automobiles, working out of office hours, they can help book every mode of transport having direct links to a live system they can instantly quote, book, cancel, check in or rearrange trips 24/7.
Most companies already use TMC’s and for those of you that don’t and have executives travelling for business, you do not realise what a necessity they really are to have. Offering savings on airfares, helicopters, trains and hotels to dealing with the intricacies of border crossings, entry visas, documentation and even recommend what vaccinations (if any) are required.
No two days are the same for the team and every client is given the same high standard of expertise, time, care, and attention in all aspects of their request, down to the smallest detail. To anticipate all needs a preference sheet is completed for each traveller to included preferred airlines, seating, hotels and even choice of pillow from the menu. As they say no request is too big or small.
Mother Nature is their worst but also their best enemy, as it brings to the table their resilience and ethics to get your executive home. Whether it be hiring a private jet, driver and car or suggesting possible routes – they like to say they adapt to every situation with agile thinking so you know your executive will be in good hands. Each traveller can be pinpointed using a location map finder within seconds should any situation arise due to civil unrest or extreme weather conditions which are all closely monitored in house.
Researching a few TMCs, you don’t realise that behind the scenes they do so much more that is not publicised including, repatriation flights for the people and animals out of the Ukraine. This process was made even more difficult due to time constraints and documentation in respect of those flights for the airlines to land and take off – they really are superheroes of travel.
With sustainability in mind, many companies have had to change their requirements for business travel so now working side by side to offset the carbon footprint for those travellers, TMCs are reviewing and offering ways to make travel greener and reduce the traveller’s environment impact.
So yes, we do need them, as they are a must for those companies whose executives travel for business.